children of the same age who were mowed down in sandy hook elementary were killed then. within a year and a half, the government banned the private use and ownership of handguns. there was stiff penalties, and there were even jail sentences if these bans and if the law was breached. they had a strict buy-back and amnesty plan, and do you know what? it worked. it didn't work immediately, but between 2003 and 2011, the number of gun-related crimes in great britain dropped off 44%. then you look at what happened in australia that same year. there was a massacre in australia. so many people were killed there, and the government sprang into action. it banned the possession, the import, the sale of semi-automatic weapons. it also made it, obviously, illegal to have them. then again, the crimes dropped off, really plummeted. a study by harvard shows that before that there was some 13 massacres in australia and after that law none. so there is cause and effect when you put in these laws and punitive measures. now, of course, i thought it was interesting that president obama obvi